Se7en pours bright golden in color and capped by a head of off-white foam, plus plenty of haze, as we expect for the style. We like to swirl the last couple ounces of hefeweizen before pouring the last of the beer into our glasses, to rouse the yeast sediment. But, if that's not your thing, just pour carefully to leave the sediment behind – there's no right or wrong way to do it. On the nose, look for a very prominent clove and peppery yeast character to jump out, accompanied by light hints of banana and bubblegum and underlined by a core of tangy wheat. We found it really nicely balanced on the palate with lots of mildly tart wheat character and that clove-like phenolic note, leading to a rather Bavarian-esque impression. It's quite peppery, which works great with the effervescent carbonation. Pair this refreshing brew with lighter fare; seafood works especially well, such as seared scallops, lobster tacos, or shrimp skewers. Or, a banana split could work too, for those with a sweet tooth. Cheers!

Christian Moerlein Brewing Company (Cincinnati, OH)

There’s a rich brewing tradition in and around Cincinnati, OH. In fact, at its peak, Cincinnati was home to at least 36 operational breweries, with many not surprisingly located in the German “Over-the-Rhine” district. One of the individuals who were key to establishing the city as a brewing hub was Christian Moerlein, a blacksmith and apprentice brewer from Bavaria who came to America in 1841 and settled in Cincinnati a year later. In 1853 he founded the Christian Moerlein (pronounced like “more-line”) Brewery, which grew to become the most well-known in the city and was ranked among the top ten nationally. Moerlein’s beer was sold across the U.S. and, quite remarkably for the era, internationally as well – which made Moerlein unique among Cincinnati’s breweries. Though the brewery carried on after Christian Moerlein’s passing in 1897, Prohibition in 1920 caused the brewery to close its doors. Luckily, though, our story continues.

Hudepohl, another of Cincinnati’s famous German-brewed beer companies (dating back to 1885), brought the Christian Moerlein brand back from extinction and reintroduced their beer as a high-end offering in 1981. This put the Moerlein brand on the forefront of the U.S. beer renaissance which was just beginning to take shape. Eventually, however, the Hudepohl Brewing Company fell on hard times and was purchased by the Snyder International Brewing Group which kept the Moerlein brand going, although just barely. Production of these Ohio-centric beers shifted to Maryland until 2004, when Cincinnati area resident and beer business veteran Greg Hardman bought the Moerlein name and beer recipes in order to rebuild the brand back home in Cincinnati – which he has done with great success in the past several years we might add. For more information about the Christian Moerlein Brewing Company and their ‘Moerlein Lager House’ restaurant and brewery that opened in Riverfront Park in early 2012, check out www.christianmoerlein.com.

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